Building a Pultec from Scratch

BUILDING THE EQUALIZER

Vintage studio gear and keyboards, my two first loves, are not getting cheaper anytime soon. I hear tales from old heads of hundred-dollar Neumann mics and Yamaha CS-80s for a grand, but those days are long gone. Today, the modern aspiring producer needs to get creative in order to get his/her hands on a piece of iconic recording paraphernalia. With the help of German DIY enthusiasts Analog Vibes, I set out to build a Pultec EQP-1A passive tube EQ; not a clone, but a genuine article. Modern reissues of classics from Pultec and UA are great, but unfortunately, numerous quality compromises needed to be made for these units. Building one myself afforded me the opportunity to avoid such compromises and build my own reissue, with some vintage components for authenticity. I used a vintage UTC A-10 and Sowter/Carnhill transformers. Vintage Windings makes a fantastic replica of the inductor used for the high EQ. Wiring the passive EQ circuit, with all of its switches and potentiometers, was the most intimidating, but the only mistake I made during the assembly was in the surprisingly complex push-pull amp circuit. Once everything was finished, I loaded it up with some vintage Amperex & Telefunken tubes. Pultec favored European versions of the 12AX7/12AU7 over American equivalents, so this seemed like the appropriate choice. The tube sockets are even labeled "ECC83" & "ECC82" instead.

THOUGHTS & IMPRESSIONS

It's immediately apparent why the Pultec still commands so much respect and copious imitations to this day. I would use one term to quantify its greatness: 'Musicality.' The Pultec is the most natural and musical EQ I've ever used. Comparing it to the still nice UAD Pultec plug-in, I find that the actual hardware does a better job of livening up mids & highs and tightening up low end without getting boomy or muddy. The equalization curves of each control also sound different than the plug-in version (and in my opinion, better). The NOS Oak rotary switches I used produce such a satisfying and heavy clack when selecting a frequency to boost/attenuate. Since my home studio is still very young, I typically use the Pultec in my tracking signal chain with an 1176 compressor to commit sounds directly to Pro Tools. In 2025, I had the opportunity to sit in on a tracking session with Grammy-winning producer Joe Chiccarelli and he used a similar method. Overall, I'm thrilled with the results and I did the entire build for less than $700. For reference, in 2025 at the time of this build, a modern reissue retails for $5,500 and vintage units list for $10,000-$15,000. If you have the time and energy to get proper training in electronics, it can save you a lot of money as an engineer or producer. Cheers!